De Beers to cut diamond production

[FarCenter]

By William MacNamara in London

Published: April 25 2010 22:33 | Last updated: April 25 2010 22:33

De Beers believes that the supply of diamonds is running out over the long term, prompting the world’s biggest miner of the gems to reduce production in an attempt to extend the life of its mines.

Assuming the move moderated production, rough diamond prices could rise by at least 5 per cent per year for the next five years, said Des Kilalea, analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

De Beers’ move, which will see production plateau at about 40m carats a year from 2011 compared with 2008 production of 48m carats, anticipates new Asian demand accelerating the depletion of the world’s existing diamond mines, said Gareth Penny, managing director.

For 20 years the industry has found no new diamond deposit to match De Beers’ two biggest mines in Africa or the best Russian mines of Alrosa, the other big diamond producer.

“Do we want to ramp production back up to 48m carats, given the lack of availability in the future?” Mr Penny asked. “Diamonds are a treasure of nature that should be properly protected, because there will be less to sell. The reality is that supply cannot keep up, and that will become very accentuated over the next 15 years.”

<SNIP>http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dab364d8-509e-11df-bc86-00144feab49a.html

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Price of socially useless commodity to rise.

[tammywammy]

1. Why do I totally believe the opposite

There's too many getting on the market for them, so they need to cut it down to increase their profits.

[WeDidIt]

21. Hammer. Nail. Head.

You've got their number.

[sendero]

2. Diamonds...

.. one giant scam for the stupid.

[msongs]

3. yes that sales job to women from the last century or so.....nt

[leeloo]

4. Try cutting concrete without a diamond blade....

[ProgressiveProfessor]

8. The artifical diamonds work just as well, as do non-jewelry grade stuff

[mkultra]

5. diamonds are for morons

not rare, no functional use, not worth shit.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

9. Errr, there are critical functions for which diamonds are the best answer

However, jewelery is not one of them

[DainBramaged]

18. Do you have any idea what industrial diamonds are used for?

http://www.superabrasives.org/index.php3

The Industrial Diamond Association of America, Inc. was incorporated on March 29, 1946 in the State of New York. It is the oldest and most prestigious association in the superabrasive/ultra-hard materials industry. The Superabrasive industry covers most manufacturing and material working industries such as Stone processing, Construction & Renovation, Oil & Gas Exploration, Mining, Glass, Optics, Medical, Electronics, Automotive, Aerospace, Woodworking, Heavy Equipment, Highways, Runways, Bridges, Dams and other general industrial and contractor applications. Activity focus has evolved from natural diamond to include manufactured superabrasives (diamond, cubic boron nitride and polycrystallines) and most recently, to other ultra-hard materials such as PVD and CVD diamond films. The Association is made up of a diverse membership representing all areas of expertise. Members include material suppliers, tool manufacturers, component producers, machine tool builders, end users, educational/research affiliates and other companies and individuals related to the manufacture, application, use and sales of superabrasives. Geographical concentration is in the United States, Canada and Mexico with many International members from Europe and Asia.

[mkultra]

24. we are clearly discussion diamonds for jewelry here.

[Odin2005]

6. DeBeers = International Crininal Cartel that needs to be broken up yesterday!

[HughMoran]

7. Ahhh, the cartel that murders people

I would just as soon see them all croak before I buy another diamond.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. There are two acknowledged artificial diamond creation technologies that DeBeers has been fighting

tooth and nail. Labeling laws seem to be their best result so far (if its not natural, you can not call it a diamond). However from a bling perspective, they are just as good, and should it become wide spread, almost as cheap as CZ in terms of cost to manufacture.

I will not shed a tear when DeBeers dies.

[pipi_k]

22. Would one of them happen to be

Moissanite?

I have various pieces of jewelry with real diamonds, some with other manufactured "diamonds", and then the Moissanite ear studs I got 8 years ago.

The Moissanite is every bit as nice as the real diamonds...actually somewhat nicer, since it's double refractive. My necklaces with the other lab created diamonds are real nice, too. I have no problem at all wearing lab created gems.

[RandomThoughts]

11. A diamond ring for a wedding ring is a marketing creation.

back before the 1900 most rings were just bands, then after, I think it was that company, got 90% control of diamond trade, they started a campaign about buying diamonds for wedding rings.

[Recovered Repug]

12. I want to meet the bastard who

came up with that 2 months pay for an engagement ring bullshit.

[JoDog]

15. Before 1900,

the giving of engagement rings was not widespread. It only happened in the upper classes. Usually, it was a piece of jewelry owned by the groom's family, or, in the Victorian era, either the groom's or bride's birthstone. In Europe during medieval times, it was part of a series of gifts given from the groom's family to that of the bride, and rather than a ring could be anything from jewelry, to cloth for wedding clothes, to livestock.

A wedding band, given as part of the ceremony, was plain gold or silver, and usually was only worn by the new wife. Men didn't really get into wearing wedding bands until the 20th century, and it didn't become a widespread fashion until about WWII. And again, the lower classes often didn't worry too much about it.

And yes, I call "bull" on DeBeers. The fact that they have artificially lowered the number of diamonds in the market to increase prices has been an open secret for some time. This is just more of the same game.

[eShirl]

13. They've taken an economic hit due to the world recession and are trying to jack up the price

imo

[quaker bill]

14. I make and sell jewelry, but don't do diamonds

They are too pricey and would add little to my design. If I have a design that wants a white sparkly bit, white topaz and white sapphires work just fine. They keep the price down and I just make sure my customers know what they are buying, because when well cut, these stones are indistinguishable from diamonds to the naked eye.

Largely I work with untreated natural colored stones, which folks seem to like just fine.

[Liberal In Texas]

16. Hah. They're still trying to run the market even though it looks like Russia

is going to be in the drivers seat determining diamond prices. DeBeers thinks that the Russian stockpile will run out someday and they'll be the price bully again.

SURAT/MOSCOW: Diamond polishing units in Surat should now look to Russia for the movements of prices instead of watching De Beers.
Till now De Beers has been the market ruler as far as diamonds are concerned. That monopoly has been broken by Russia by stockpiling huge quantity of diamonds in its state-owned company. -http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Forget-De-Beers-Russia-to-decide-diamond-prices-17686-3-1.html

The piece at the link is interesting if one is interested how these cartels jockey for power and position.

[TommyO]

17. What I read from this is that they have 15 years of diamonds in their vaults

Not to mention what they're digging out of the ground today.

[JCMach1]

19. Might be about Zimbabwe and the finds in that country

that have been put under the control of the corrupt government there... i.e. deBeers can't control that supply.

[Tesha]

20. There's no question that their market will collapse as soon as artificial gem-grade diamonds...

...become widely available, so they're just trying to pick the pricing
structure that optimizes their "take" up to that sad day for them.

Tesha

[lunatica]

23. Want to know what DeBeers did to African tribes?

When they needed workers for their mines they made laws that taxed all the small villages and before long the young men had to go to work to pay for their families taxes (or they were sent to prison). Of course, there was plenty of work in the diamond mines so they were hired for slave wages and were turned into indentures workers who were forced to work to keep their villages and families afloat. Soon the villages were empty of their young men and women had to follow to get work. It wasn't long before the villages were empty and the workers were chained to their jobs just to survive on their own.


And all over the world they've bought up and made it illegal for other mines to prosper so they have a monopoly. Diamonds are quite common all over the world.

And the best diamond cutters in the world? Slave wage children in India because they have little fingers and their eyes are sharper than adults. These children are forced to work very long hours for very little pay and under vile conditions and physical abuse.

But diamonds are the way to tell your loved one how pure you love is. I learned all this in a documentary in about 1995. The movie Blood Diamond is just one tiny part of the worldwide corruption of the diamond industry.